Regulatory

New Jersey’s ratepayer advocate continues to oppose the PennEast Pipeline LLC, repeating its position in a filing with FERC Monday that the project’s backers have not shown the additional capacity is needed to meet demand.

The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) has hired Anne C. Blankenship as executive director. An energy attorney at Babst Calland’s Charleston office, Blankenship has nearly 15 years of experience working in the industry. She previously served as WVONGA’s chief counsel. The appointment ends a search that was launched by the organization’s board of directors to replace Nicholas “Corky” DeMarco, who died unexpectedly in July. Babst Calland works on behalf of the industry throughout the Appalachian Basin. Blankenship “has a deep background in law and environmental regulations and is a skilled communicator,” said board President Maribeth Anderson. Blankenship starts the new job on Nov. 28.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management office in Utah on Thursday posted a proposed list of four parcels totaling 4,175 acres that will be offered in an online oil/natural gas lease sale in the first quarter.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has set an experiment in time-of-use electricity rates for large users — commercial, industrial and agricultural customers — offering mid-day pricing discounts when the state’s growing renewable-generated power supplies are most plentiful. The five-member CPUC said it hopes the experimental Energy Matinee Pricing program proves beneficial to consumers and better manages the state’s water and energy resources. The program is designed to use price signals to encourage the state’s largest electricity consumers to shift more of their energy demand to times when energy generation from renewables and low-water using energy are abundant. Energy use profiles show that late afternoon to evening, when solar and wind supplies are low, often is a peak demand time. The discount pricing in afternoon hours are designed to draw more nonresidential load to the mid-afternoon time period, when renewables, particularly solar, are more plentiful.

As a way to curb peak winter day natural gas use, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday approved consumer programs for Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).

Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren said Thursday he “just didn’t see” Donald Trump winning the race for president, but now that he has, there’s not much to complain about.

Rarely does an incoming president make a huge impact on the natural gas market, but President-elect Trump’s promise to bring back the coal industry, as well as questionable views about climate change, could have a negative impact, according to energy experts.

Over the objections of some area landowners FERC has approved Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC’s Valley Lateral project, a 7.8-mile pipeline in Orange County, NY, that will serve a natural gas-fueled power plant currently under construction in Wawayanda, NY, known as the Valley Energy Center.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently approved changes to the state’s Gas and Oil Regulation that govern the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Old Dominion state.